City of Grand Rapids renderingThe new trail connects the Black Hills Neighborhood with Kent Trails and Millennium Park

GRAND RAPIDS – The new Oxford Street Bridge and Trail will be dedicated on May 17 as part of the 3rd Annual Mayor's Bike Ride, Mayor George Heartwell announced today.

The Oxford Street Bridge – which crosses the Grand River to connect the city's Black Hills neighborhood to the trailhead for Kent Trails and Millennium Park – was completed last fall thanks to a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund.

The bike ride will begin at 6 p.m. at the trailhead, 1700 Butterworth Ave. SW, and continue along the paths through the former Butterworth Landfill area to a 6:30 p.m. ribbon cutting at the Chestnut Street bridge.

Exhibitors from local bicycle clubs will be stationed at the trailheads from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Participants should wear a “properly fitted helmet” and must be in “reasonable physical condition,” according to organizers.